Well the excellent news is that my counts finally came up! On Monday, Valentine’s Day, I found out my platelets made it up to 114,000 and white count was up to 7.2. That’s the healthiest I have been in well over a year. So, congrats to me for healing … now back to chemo. Literally, within the hour I was hooked back up to my IV for the next dose. This time I am only receiving 3 days (doses) instead of 4 days in hopes that my counts will not drop so low this time and they will recover more quickly.

Although it was AWESOME not to be going to the hospital every week for a little while, I am glad to be back on the trial. I just don’t want to leave any stone unturned. And I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed that I get through this round much better than I did the last one.

I’ve been sticking to a mostly vegetarian diet the last 3 weeks now. It’s going well, but I do find myself quite hungry. I am proud of myself for staying off of coffee and substituting two healthy cups of green tea daily. Oh, I haven’t given up fish so I’ve inhaled quite a bit of wild salmon and healthfully harvested shrimp in the last few weeks. I’ve lightened the amount of dairy I’m eating (I didn’t each much before) but I’m also not beating myself up when I want a piece of cheese on a sandwich or a really, rich, creamy cup of hot cocoa. Life is short and I’ll do the best I can do things right, but I refuse to sacrifice too many pleasures inbetween. I know the key is to find balance. And more important than fixing my already healthy diet is to fix my stressed mind. When my mind is at ease, I will truly feel healthy. I’m getting there …

I want to send a thank you out of the Ulman Fund girls who came and visited me at chemo on Tuesday. You guys always bring a smile and such warm, inspiring stories – you rock! I also want to ask people to keep my friend Sheryl in mind. She is another young mother diagnosed with a different form of blood cancer. She had an autologous transplant that didn’t work and is back on chemo now. She’s funky and beautiful and has a great accent (she’s from South Africa) and I know she’s an amazing mother. This has been a really difficult process for her and I pray that things will start working for her. Like me, all she wants to do is get back to being a mom.

I also want to once again thank the nurses at UMMS. In all stages of this game, they have been awesome. The cancer waiting room is usually packed with older people, most of them not in the best mood. I overheard two different couples griping about the wait and then about an order getting mixed up. Yes, it SUCKS that SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE CANCER and need to be sitting in that waiting room. But those nurses work as fast as they can and treat all of us with respect, care and a smile on their face no matter how backed up they are. Just come prepared to be there a while and know that you are there to save your life. That’s not something that should be rushed through or feel inconvenient. Practice gratitude and you may see the world a little differently.

Okay, so one last thing I have to mention is that I bought an exercise trampoline a couple of weeks ago. I bought it mainly for the kids, but it turns out that “trampolining” is supposed to be one of the best exercises for cancer patients because it helps to clean out toxins from your lymphatic system. It is something about the combination of cardiovascular work and the non-impact resistance work that does the magical trick better than other forms of exercise. And I did read about this in quite a few places. I thought the workout DVD that came with it would be totally cheesy, but I have to say it has a been a great workout and I always jump off smiling and feeling really energized. I can’t say the same about my elliptical trainer. So if you’re interested in feeling like a kid again while trying to stay super healthy, check one out on Gaiam:

http://www.gaiam.com/product/trampoline+workout+system.do?from=Search

They’re on sale right now. And, the kids will love it too!